The present invention relates to the secure transfer of retail goods between a delivery carrier and a consumer. With the advent of e-commerce, a consumer can order a retail good through the Internet or other telecommunications means and the delivery carrier must make a delivery to the consumer and at a time that is potentially inconvenient for the consumer to receive the order. To deliver the retail goods to the consumer, the parties will make use of a secure drop box or receptacle that possesses a lock to prevent unauthorized parties, such as thieves, from accessing the drop box.
Currently, many secure receptacles employ a keypad which is physically integrated with the secure receptacle. When a delivery carrier or consumer desires to gain access to the secure receptacle, an access code is entered using the keypad. Keypads thus provide some level of security, but the access code may be compromised through either the direct observation of an authorized party entering the code, or by determining which keys have been previously depressed by inspecting the keys of the keypad.
Therefore, there is a need to increase the means by which security of drop boxes can be increased to ensure the delivery of retail goods to a consumer.